Evaluation of Drought – Review of Drought Indices and their Application in the Recent Studies from Slovakia

Abstract Drought has recently become an important topic in Europe but also in Slovakia. Observed results from various studies suggest that this drought phenomenon has a serious impact on hydrology, agriculture and social and economic sectors. The first part of the paper was devoted to the study of literature from the field of existing drought indices, which serve to identify all types of drought such as meteorological, agricultural and socio-economic drought. The second part of the paper dealt with selected scientific studies on drought assessment and the use of drought indices in Central Europe and Slovakia.